Page 103 of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

“Why am I doing this again?”

“It builds character,” Emma calls from below.

“My character was fine!”

“That’s what everyone thinks, but it’s not true!”

“Thanks a lot!” I take a tentative step, and then another as the group down below watches me. I try not to look down, but you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I’m not good at working against my impulses.

But this time—ha!—I master them. I force myself to look straight ahead, up even, at the platform I’m heading to.

But—ha!—joke’s on me because that’s why I don’t see it. A gap in the ropes that’s bigger than it should be. My foot falls through, and I go down on one knee, my heart hammering.

“Stand back up!” Andre barks.

I grasp the edge above me and try to pull myself up, but upper-body strength has never been my strong suit.

“I can’t.”

“You can do it, El,” Oliver says.

I grasp the rope again and pull myself up. I get halfway there, then fall back down. The bridge sways underneath me, back and forth.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down.

“I can’t do it.”

“Stay there, I’m coming out,” Oliver says.

“Okay.”

I lie half propped up, trying to free my foot from the hole. The rope is scratchy and thick, and it’s rubbing against my neck and a spot on my back where my shirt has ridden up.

“I’m blaming you for this, Em!”

“I’d expect nothing less!”

“Almost to you,” Oliver says.

“Can’t happen soon enough.”

I feel the bridge sway under me, Oliver’s weight pushing itdown. He gets to me and hefts me up from behind, and it’s not the most elegant thing, but it works.

I turn around slowly.

“There you are,” Oliver says, smiling at me. “All better now.”

“All b— Oh, shit!”

The ropes we’re standing on give way beneath us and we fall rapidly toward the earth, clinging to each other, and are stopped with a jerk five feet from the ground.

“Are you okay, El?” Emma says.

“What the hell happened?”

“I knew we shouldn’t have come here.”

“Stay there! I’ll be down in a moment to cut you out.”

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